Complicated
by Ponytales
Summary: Abby has a long term secret and when she finds out she's pregnant, she has to tell Connor. Connor/Abby and Abby/James
1. Chapter 1

Title: Complicated

Rating: PG-13 or T just to be safe

Summery: Abby has a long term secret and when she finds out she's knocked up, she has to tell Connor it may not be his baby. Spoilers for Series 1-4.

A/N: I have no idea where this plot bunny came from. I'm a big Connor/Abby fan and yet...this happened.

This wasn't happening...this wasn't happening... this was happening...

Abby paced around her flat that she shared with her on-the-rocks boyfriend Connor Temple, clutching a cup of tea and waiting for him to come home. He was off with Burton again but he swore when he responded to her text that he would be back tonight.

Not like the time he ran off to Scotland with Burton and stayed gone for two weeks...if he hadn't have done that then maybe she wouldn't be in this condition...

Oh hell. She couldn't blame it on him, it was her fault. She shouldn't have kept up the friends with benefits arrangement after she got with Connor. But he ignored her, took her for granted and basically treated her like she was always supposed to be there no matter how wrapped up in his own life he got.

It was different in the Cretaceous, they only had each other. She should have known if they ever got back he would go back to being the self absorbed emotionally stunted man he always was. There was a reason she shot him down before-

The sound of the key in the lock shook her out of her downward emotional spiral. Connor seemed surprised to see her still up when he slipped in the door.

"Abby, I said you didn't have to wait up." He crossed the room and hugged her, "It's sweet of you though." He leaned in to kiss her and she couldn't bear it. She ducked away from him. "Connor, I have to tell you something."

He knew her well enough to know when she was really upset and he jump to the wrong conclusion immediately. "Abby...It's just a rough patch, we'll get through this-"

She cut him off, "It's not that Connor. Sit down. There's things I've never told you about me, and I'm pregnant."

He was floored with shock. "You pregnant?"

"Yeah. Positive."

"You're not breaking up with me?"

"No." She replied and thought, 'you might break up with me.'

"That's wonderful!" He grabbed her in a big hug, "aren't you excited?"

"Oh...sit down Connor. I have to tell you something. It's complicated." He seemed to catch the serious vibe off of her and tried to reassure her. "The baby's going to be fine, what are you worried about?"

"Connor, promise me you'll let me explain everything before you go flying off the handle? Promise me?"

"I promise. What are you so worried about? I'm happy about the baby."

"Yeah...before we were dating...I had a friend...with benefits..."

He was dismissive. "So? Lots of people do. That was before-" Connor stopped himself, "You're not saying...you've kept this up? You cheated on me?" It was like he couldn't stop the words coming out of his mouth.

"You let me explain!" Abby snapped. "It's started years before there was an us," she waved her hands between them, "He didn't want a relationship and neither did I. It was just sex. We were both just lonely."

Connor started stuttering..."But, you knew I loved you..."

She wasn't having any of that, "No! You took it back, remember, pretended you didn't say anything at all to me and then ran off with Caroline to the movies? Remember that?"

He looked ashamed of himself, but grudgingly admitted, "Yeah."

"What did you expect me to do? Sit at home and weep for you? I went over to his place and got drunk." Abby visibly calmed herself down, "and laid. My life was _my life_ before we were in the Cretaceous. I never held any of your old girlfriends against you."

"You kissed me, when Becker told you about how we got Rex back!" Connor seemed to be digging for an emotional grenade he could toss at her.

"I did. And you didn't do a damn thing about it, you didn't ask me out-"

"We were already living together! We had dinner every night!"

"That's it! That's exactly it! You acted like you wanted me for a girlfriend but you never tried to romance me or kiss me or anything! I needed a hug every once in a while!" She needed more than a hug, "I didn't have all eternity to hang about waiting on you to make a move so I did. And you didn't do a damn thing about it."

"So you would have gone out with me before we were trapped?"

"Yes. If you had manned up and asked me. You never did."

"So you had your fuck buddy?"

"Yeah. My fuck buddy." She echoed his own crude words back to him. "I have needs Connor, I needed somebody to hold me occasionally, and it wasn't going to be you."

"Why'd you keep it up then after we got back? You had an affair Abby." Now he was pulling the kicked puppy look on her. "I thought we had something special."

"We did. We do. We broke things off after I got back. He thought I was dead and suddenly I wasn't." It was supposed to just be one last time, just so he could reassure himself she was really there and really alive.

"Obviously you didn't or you'd never be telling me this." It was like a train wreck. Connor wanted to run out of the flat and keep running as his life came crashing down around his ears but he just couldn't get off the couch.

"You got wrapped up in Burton. Who is a sleazebag no matter how much you worship him. Remember when he waltzed into my lab and told me he was going to euthanize all the creatures? He was going to kill Rex and you just stood in the corner and kept your mouth shut? Remember that?"

"Abby, I was in shock." Connor tried to stammer an excuse, "I thought you'd forgiven me for that."

"Nope. I just moved past it. That same night you worked late and I told you I was out with some mates? I went over to his house. I was upset and angry and he just...let me vent and we ended up in bed together." They fell back into the routine they had established for years, with a little extra sneaking around.

Bitterly Connor said, "So we have a fight and you run to him? Is that how it worked?"

Abby thought about it. "No. That was the first time. Like I told you, we'd been friends with bennies for years. No emotional crap. Just...it's nice not to be totally alone. It's nice not to always wake up alone." Another not so subtle dig at how Burton dragged him off for days at a time. "He told me he doesn't want to screw up my life."

"Actions do speak louder than words then. Is it his baby? Is that what you're dancing around?"

"I don't know."

"Did you tell him before you told me?"

"Yes." Connor looked like he might cry. "Why?"

"To see what he wanted to do. If he had said he had no interest in a child then frankly I probably would never have told you about him."

"But he didn't did he?"

"Yeah. He said he couldn't ignore his own baby. He said I should have told you a long time ago." She was pacing now and waving her arms around angerly, "He thought I had when we were in the cretaceous, I mean, he thought it was a big thing not to mention. He was a bit cross with me about it."

Connor found himself agreeing with his girlfriends lover.

"Connor, I don't think you really want to be with me. I think that the way you treated me before we were trapped, and the way you've gone back to treating me is just how you are. It's who you are. I can't live like that, I can't be ignored. I think that's why I went back to him."

"So you are dumping me then?"

"No. Like I said, he doesn't want to do the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing."

"Let me get this straight, I'm not a good enough boyfriend, so you run off to some bloke who doesn't want to be a boyfriend at all?"

"For a couple of years we worked just fine. It's nice not to be alone and Connor, just about since we first got back I've felt alone. You've left me for Burton."

"I'm not shagging him!"

"But he makes you feel special right? Unique?" Connor couldn't deny it and he wasn't sure how she had turned this around on him. "I don't know who's baby it is. It's dangerous to do a test before birth, it could cause a miscarriage so if you don't want me or the baby that's fine, I'll manage on my own. If you do then we'll have to wait until it's born to find out for sure."

Abby went to get up and he grabbed her hand and pulled her back down on the couch. "Does he? Want you?"

"It would complicate his life enormously if I was in it. But he won't leave me out on the street and he does want the baby, if it's his."

"Is he married?"

"No." Protesting that she still had some standards would be a bit illogical at this point.

"Is it someone I know?"

"Yes."

"It's someone from work isn't it? It's Becker!"

"No! It's not Becker."

She couldn't bring herself to say it but she didn't have to, he was puzzling it out. He was always very clever. "Someone you've known for years...someone that has no interest in dating you, just fucking...it's Lester." Now he looked like he might vomit.

"Yeah. It's James."

Connor leaned back in shock. "That bastard...that utter bastard...he pretended to be my friend...and all the time he was shagging my girlfriend!"

"Not all the time, just before we were together and after you ran off with Burton!"

"He let me live with him, after you tossed me out!"

"I asked him, once I realized you were living at the ARC." She had tossed him out because she couldn't take his panting after her from a distance anymore. "We weren't together then."

"You know, I wondered why he would. He hated having me there, messing up his nice tidy flat. Sid and Nancy drove him bonkers."

Something else occurred to Connor, "Phillip said Lester convinced him not to be known forever as the man who killed the dinosaurs." Her lover had saved her precious creatures while he had stood mute.

"Yeah."

Suddenly it was overwhelming, "I can't...I can't be here now. I've got to go. I've got to think about this." Connor stood up and Abby rose with him. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"Yeah..." she could see the tears in his eyes, "missed the mark on that one."

He picked up his keys and left. Abby sat back down on the couch, then pulled out her phone. There was really only one person she could call.

"Hello?"

"I told him."

"How did he take it?"

"He's angry, and upset. I expect he's going over to your place."

"Thanks for the warning. How are you?" This was what Connor consistently failed to do and probably didn't understand that he was failing. James cared how she was, even if he had no interest in official female companionship.

"I'll be alright. It was harder and easier than I thought. I don't know if I made him understand why I carried on with you after we got back though."

"He neglected you. Even I could see that and not just because you came over here crying more than once." Reminding her of all that seemed to stiffen her resolve. "I'm coming over too. I don't know if Connor will get drunk before or if he's headed there now but I'll stay out of sight until he gets his mad out."

James laughed, it was such an out of place sound considering what all was going on. "You mean after he takes a few swings at me?"

"Yeah...be careful all right?"

James poured himself a shot of whiskey and downed it while he contemplated the upcoming fight. This was going to be hell. It was about a twenty minute drive between Abby's new flat and his condo. Connor Temple managed it in ten. James thought about having another shot before he answered the door but that would really be putting off the inevitable.

"I know you're in there!" Connor bellowed as he banged on the door again.

James swung it open, "If we're going to fight then do it in here." He snapped at the younger man. "Come in."

Connor had evidently not been expecting such an upfront greeting.

"Well? Where do you want to start? Want a drink first?"

"What the hell? You screw around with my girlfriend and now you offer me a drink?" Enraged, Connor swung at him, a huge punch that Lester handily blocked, a legacy of having five brothers.

"Connor, we can all be rational about this!" Connor responded by swinging again, and again, until Lester grabbed his arm and spun him around in a headlock. "I'll let you up if you'll quit trying to punch me." He bargained.

"Bastard. Fine."

"Drink? I think you need it. It's always hard finding out how monumentally you've fucked up."

"I've fucked up? How dare you! You're the one shagging my girlfriend!"

"You mean the girlfriend that was left to fend for herself while you disappeared with Burton for two weeks last summer? You were gone four days before you even pulled your head out far enough to let her know you were still alive!"

He kept talking as he led the way into his study, if any drinks or blood got spilled it wasn't going to stain anything in here. Stunned, Connor was following him while he continued his tirade.

"You mean that same girlfriend that thought she was going to have to watch her beloved creatures die at the hands of your new best mate? Are we talking about the same woman here? 'Cause you sure as hell haven't been treating her like a proper girlfriend!"

Lester was pouring Connor a glass full while he was talking, "I've been wanting to have this conversation with you for a while now! So lets just let it all out in the open."

"I can't fucking believe this." He was being lectured by his girlfriends lover!

"Neither can I. I can't believe she still wants to be with you."

"Me?" Connor retorted, "She said you don't want to be with her at all!"

"I like being a bachelor. I'm too set in my ways to marry and that's what a woman like Abby deserves! Someone that will marry her and look after her and love her!" He sneered at Connor, "Why she picked you for that I have no idea."

Lester took a big gulp of his own drink, "Look, I think we can both agree we care for Abby and one of us is going to be a father. I don't want to ruin her life. The gossip at work would make her miserable if this got out. Do you love her enough to at least prevent that from happening?"

"I'm not going to tell everyone that she had an affair with you!" How incredibly embarrassing.

"Do you even want the baby?" Lester asked him, watching him closely.

"Yes! I was really excited about it for about four seconds, until Abby kept talking."

"So if it's your and hers...what are you going to do?"

"You've got no right to ask me that!"

"As the man she runs to when she can't stand you anymore, I think I can."

Connor positively glowered at him. "You complete bastard."

"That's the facts. You ignored her, until she was the only woman on earth! If you want a future with her you are going to have to shape up Connor."

Lester's phone chirping distracted them both momentarily. He flipped it open and read the text before looking up at Connor. "Do you think you can at least be civil to her and not upset her more than she already is?"

He was stunned, "She's texting you?"

"She's downstairs, but if you don't promise not to make her cry again I'll tell her not to come up."

"Again?"

"Connor, you've broken her heart a couple of times now and I've had to clean up the pieces. Can you be civil or not? We all have to make some plans."

He spoke through gritted teeth, "I can be civil."

Lester looked extremely skeptical but he sent a short note back to her. 'Come up, it's open.'

They sat in stony silence for a few minutes until the soft click of the front door opening let them know she was there. Neither of them got up and it didn't take her long to locate them sitting at opposite sides of the study.

"Hey." Abby said softly as she walked in. She took in the half empty whiskey bottle on the table and couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She sat alone, in a comfy easy chair in the corner.

"I want to know how all this started." Connor waved his hand between them.

"That's none of your business," Lester told him firmly, "Before you were together, that's not your business."

Connor looked like he was going to argue the point but Abby cut him off. "I don't mind telling him." She knew he was going to need some details.

James looked worried, but nodded for her to continue if she wanted. "All right then. As you like." He went back to sipping his drink. Connor jolted as he remembered the very first night they were stranded in the Cretaceous. He had been fantasizing about her in a bikini on a beach...she had encouraged him with a soft 'as you like.' Hearing the same phrase from Lester was like a dagger to the heart.

She turned to Connor, "Remember the spider creatures in the tube station?"

"Abby! That was like, a week after we went to work in the ARC!"

"Let me talk," she said softly, with one hand protectively on her stomach. "I had a really bad crush on Stephen, I visited him in the hospital and that's when I found out he had a girlfriend."

She looked at her hands for a moment before continuing. "I went to a pub and got totally trashed. I was completely irresponsible. The barman said he was going to call me a ride, he flipped through my phone. I told him to call my mate Jessica, but I was slurring and he heard it as James."

Connor looked over at Lester, "She was drunk? You took advantage of her?"

"No I most certainly did not! Let her finish."

"I don't really remember much about leaving the bar. It was really late and he didn't know where I lived and I was passed out by that point so he took me back here." Abby rolled her eyes at Connor, "You know there's plenty of room here. I woke up completely alone, still in my clothes in the second bedroom."

"And?"

"And nothing. I was terribly hung over and embarrassed. He made me some tea and when I could stand without swaying he took me back to the bar to get my car."

"That's it? How did that turn into...this?" Connor was extremely skeptical.

"That next morning while I was lying on the couch trying to get the room to stop spinning, he mentioned that he didn't often have company over. He said if I felt the need to get trashed I could just come over here and save him the drive."

"I was joking, at the time." James interjected.

"I didn't think you were."

Connor waved at them to just stop. "So what? When did you start the...the..."

"Benefits part? After the friends part happened." Abby told him coolly. "I came over a few times. We were both lonely and we knew it was totally inappropriate for us to be hanging out after work together so I never mentioned anything to anybody. We weren't dating, just..."

James actually laughed, a completely improper sound at this particular junction. "Yeah...just...sometimes things just happen. We managed to work together without it affecting our professional relationship. Connor, we were always up front with each other. I wasn't looking for a girlfriend."

"Why? Why am I not good enough for you but he is?"

Abby snapped, "He never ignored me Connor! He never pretended to fall in love with me and then took it back!"

"That was before! What about the whole entire year we spent together, depending on each other every single day? I really was the last man on earth." He leaped to his feet, ready to keep ranting.

"You took it back Connor! As soon as someone and something more interesting came along! You've been treating me like-" Abby started to get really angry but James cut them both off. "Sit back down Connor. You promised you wouldn't upset her."

Connor clenched his fists but he stiffly sat back down. "After we got back, why didn't you break it off? Hell, for that matter why didn't you tell me while we were there? You were convinced we would never get back!"

"I didn't tell you because just mentioning that I'd been coming over here for a kiss and snuggle for nearly three years was a big thing to drop on you!'

He really didn't want to think about them kissing or snuggling. He circled back around to his first question, "Why didn't you break it off? You said you loved me!"

"I do love you damn it but sometimes..." Abby tried to get a hold of herself, and James stepped in, "she did break it off. She came over here and told me that we had to stop."

"But it started up again."

"Yup and it was your fault. I don't remember exactly what you did but imagine my surprise when she showed up on my doorstep, crying over you." James said sourly and Connor could tell he was genuinely angry at him for hurting Abby.

"And it wasn't all me emoting on him." Abby interjected, desperate to make him understand, "You don't realize but James is under tremendous pressure and whenever someone is killed- we both needed someone." Abby tried to defend them. "It was too easy to fall back into the same pattern as before."

"Until now. You're pregnant." Connor whipped his head around to stare at Lester. "What the hell are you planning? You've said over and over you don't want a girlfriend or a wife. I'm not good enough but you're evidently preferable to me!"

"I'm terrified." The older man confessed to them both. "I'm absolutely terrified the child is mine." The naked emotion in his face gave Connor a pause.

Abby looked like she might start crying, "I'm so sorry, to both of you. I never meant for any of this to happen. It just happened..." Now she did start crying.

James glanced over at Connor and when the younger man just sat there he sighed and got up. "Connor, if you really love her then comfort her!"

Connor looked like a deer caught in the headlights and froze. James groaned and went over to Abby, this type of thing was why she kept coming to him. He pulled her up out of the chair and hugged her. "Don't worry, we'll work this out, all three of us. It'll be alright." He eyeballed Connor in a significant way.

He sat there and watched them for a moment before it clicked, why she kept turning to James. The other man was right, he had monumentally fucked up. Connor walked over to her.

"Yeah, Abby, I'm not mad at you anymore. I understand now, I mean, I'm still a little-" James's look shut him up. They could talk about this later, when his girlfriend wasn't sobbing in her lovers arms right in front of him. Connor was right there and James accomplished a deft move that left her in Connor's arms.

"I'll leave you two alone for now." 'Be nice.' he mouthed at Connor. "I'll put some tea on. We've got a lot of planning to do."

Whatcha think? If anyone is interested in betaing this for me please let me know, or just leave a little constructive criticism. Thank for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval

Thank you for reviewing~

This chapter goes up to T

Connor sat in the chair with Abby on top of him sobbing her eyes out and apologizing. He had never ever seen her this upset before. He had never ever even seen her cry before and now she was curled against his chest going to pieces. He felt like the lowest scum on earth.

"Shhh, shhh, it's alright, we'll make it alright." He whispered nonsense to her and held her tight while she worked it out. "It'll be alright."

She wiped at her eyes. "How can it be alright? I'm pregnant, I cheated on you-"

He cut her off. "I drove you away. You were right, when you said I left you as soon as something else came along." That admission was a kick in the guts right there. He resolved to work on his ability to tell Burton no. Abby was so much more important to him.

She started crying again. He was desperate to make her stop. "Abby please, believe me. I love you and I'll fix what's wrong. I'll do whatever I have to to keep you with me, I love you." He realized that he had said he loved her more in that sentence than he had said it in the past two weeks. That made him feel like crying himself.

She settled a little, and the crying subsided into the occasional sniff. "How could you possibly forgive me?"

Connor turned her head around to face him and echoed her, "Abby how could you possibly forgive me? Lester's right, I neglected you, I ignored you and I just expected you to put up with it. I'm an total ass. I don't deserve you."

She kissed him, "Don't say that. We'll just...work through this. We'll make this work if you want. I just need you, just you." Together they sat and reassured each other of their love.

James was trying to keep himself calm by the routine actions of making tea. What if Connor stayed a self absorbed ass and Abby decided to leave him? What the hell was he going to do? He liked to be alone most of the time. A baby...what if it was his baby? His thoughts just kept chasing around and around in his head while he waited for for Connor and Abby to come out, hopefully together.

It was only a few minutes later when they emerged from his study, holding hands. He took that as a good sign. "Tea?" He offered them.

"Thanks." Abby took the mug he had already made up for her and Connor tried to ignore that he knew how she took her tea. That would lead him to thinking about what else he would know. He almost felt like an intruder here.

"Where do we go from here?" Connor asked them softly.

"We find a way to all get along." Abby said while pulling out a napkin from a drawer and blotting her eyes with it. "I'm sorry that this is so complicated but it is."

"Are you going to keep running into his arms?" Connor asked her, afraid of the answer. "I can answer that," James said from across the counter. "Not if you manage not to ignore and hurt her. She actually does love you for some unholy reason."

"_She_ is right here, there's nothing wrong with my ears." Abby said tartly.

"Beg pardon." He apologized to her. "I was only trying to help."

"How are we going to all act normally at work?" Connor asked, feeling as if he was on another planet.

Abby shrugged, "We've managed it for years. Just...separate it."

"What if the baby's yours?" James asked Connor, "then all of this is just extra drama. I won't be involved at all."

Connor tried to focus on that and couldn't, "What if it isn't? What if it's yours? What if I'm raising your baby?"

James corrected him, "You won't be, I would be raising my baby."

"You don't want to marry Abby!" Connor accused him.

James shot back, "Neither do you. I expect if you did you would have asked her by now!"

"I'm right here!" She snapped her fingers in front of both of them before they could start actually marking their territory. "I don't want to marry either of you. Getting married is so far down on my list of things I'm worried about that it's not even in the top hundred!"

Connor was floored, "you don't?" He had always sort of imagined that they would get married eventually, and get that little house in the suburbs with a white picket fence.

"No. I don't." Abby replied sharply. "I don't want to marry. I'm too screwed up, I can't even be happy with just one man." She seemed to realize that wasn't the most diplomatic thing to say. "Look, can we agree to leave our private business at home and act normally at work?"

"Of course." James said smoothly, "I'm not going to cause you difficulty." He managed to imply that Connor would despite not looking at him when he said that.

"I can fake it." Connor growled. "I don't want people gossiping about us."

"Okay. Thank you, it's late, we'd better go." Abby set her empty tea cup down on the counter. "See you at work tomorrow."

"Goodnight Abby, Connor." James let them out and locked the door behind them. That had gone a lot better than he thought it would.

The next day there wasn't an anomaly so there was plenty of reasons that they were all able to ignore each other. Despite what Connor said he was still wrestling with the feeling of betrayal and Abby was consumed with guilt that she had hurt him. James was just happy that Connor was giving him the silent treatment instead of blowing up at him in front of everyone.

That night James came over to their flat for some tea and more chatting, that occasionally got heated.

They reached a truce. James flat out refused to get out of Abby's life entirely like Connor wanted until he knew if it was his baby. Since Abby completely shot down the possibility of doing a paternity test before the baby was born, they were going to have to tolerate each other until then.

Her first doctors appointment was the next week. Connor insisted he was going to go with her. "I'd like to be involved to," James objected, "Since it could be my child."

Abby had to referee. "I can't go in there with two men, they'll think I'm a slut. Which I might well be but we're not going to emphasize that." Both of them denied that she was a slut. Abby was secretly thrilled that they didn't see her that way, but there was another objection to them both going with her.

"The three of us can't always miss work together when I have a doctors appointment. That would be highly suspicious! We'll alternate who goes with me." That set off another argument that James finally conceded on the condition that they would both be in the delivery room.

Connor was getting better about not ignoring Abby, he was trying to figure out how to meet her emotional needs as well as her physical ones. He actually sat down with her and worked out where he had screwed up so monumentally. Jetting off to the far corners of the world whenever Burton snapped his fingers without even discussing any of it with her was a big part of it. Not to mention sometimes Burton told him not to call Abby for 'security' and Connor actually listened. He could kick himself for that.

It was sweet and when he realized that she used James more like a teddy bear than a sweaty sex monkey he started to realize what James told him was true, girls need attention. He had paid attention to her when she needed it, and he started doing it years before Connor did. He set about making up for lost time.

Meanwhile James was realizing how much he had come to depend on her once or twice a week visits. He missed her company, not just the sex. He didn't know it but while she was thrilled to have Connor's attention again, she was missing him as well. Something had to be done, but she didn't know what yet.

At the doctors appointment the doctor drew blood to check for all sorts of things, then she had Abby lay down and pull her shirt up to reveal her still taunt belly.

"Let's just take a peek in there." Connor watched, fascinated as the doctor squirted some goop on Abby's stomach and pressed the ultrasound wand on it. He couldn't make out anything on the screen, it was all one big black and white squiggle but the doctor seemed to see something interesting.

He gripped Abby's hand tightly and waited to find out what the doctor was frowning over. "Is the baby okay?" Abby fretted, picking up on the doctors tension.

"Yes, look here," The doctor zoomed in on something vaguely oblong. "This is baby A... and over here is baby B."

"A and B...there's two? There's twins? We're having twins?" Abby gasped in shock. "We're having twins."

"Twins Abby!" Connor leaned down and kissed her.

"Want to hear their heartbeats?" At their anxious nods the doctor flipped a switch and the odd swoosh swoosh sound of a fetal heartbeat filled the room.

"I'll print off a few pictures for you."

"Are they boys or girls?" Abby asked.

"It's too soon to tell, you might be able to see at your next appointment. I'm referring you to a specialist in multiples. But I can tell you that they're not identical. There is two placentas." As the doctor was explaining she was noting things in the chart. "I'll get those pictures for you."

"Wow Abby. Wow." Connor looked stunned. "I love you."

"I love you too." She replied. "I guess with photographic proof we can tell people now." He kissed again. "Yeah."

That evening she brought up showing the ultrasound pictures to James and Connor didn't object. He even asked, "do you want me to go over there with you?"

Thrilled he was making a stab at getting along, she agreed. He was being a lot less possessive of her than she thought he would be. Of course, the assurance that any between the sheets action was over between her and James might have had something to do with that.

James was home, like he was nearly every evening. He was wearing a polo shirt and jeans when he opened the door for them. "Abby, Connor. How did it go?"

"Wonderful!" She hugged him and ignored the frown from Connor. She had explained that they were going to stay friends and he would have to get used to it. "We got pictures."

She passed the best one over and let him puzzle out the meaning of 'Baby A and Baby B.' His face lit up when he worked it out. It didn't take long.

"There's two! Abby...you're so tiny...how are you going to have twins?" He looked really worried. Connor felt like slapping himself for not thinking of that. Once again, James managed to one up him on concern for her well being.

"Don't worry! I'm going to a specialist in the next few weeks. She's going to put me on a special diet and everything."

"Do you know if it's boys or girls?"

"It's too soon to tell," Connor told him, "but if it's both then I already know what I want to call them." He grinned.

"No." James and Abby both told him at the same time.

"But it's classic!" Connor protested while they all settled down in the living room. "Luke and Leia!"

"Absolutely not. But tell me about the appointment." James requested, "Do you want something to drink or eat? I've got frozen pasta in the freezer." At their nods he got up and started to preheat the oven. Connor reached over and grabbed the tv remote. Battlestar Galactica was on.

James frowned when he saw that, but maybe he was only doing it to distract himself from Abby talking to him, the other man.

Abby followed him into the kitchen relaying everything to him, from how gross the ultrasound fluid was to how the doctors shoes clashed horribly with her blouse. James listened attentively, infected by her happiness and then he grinned when she said that the doctor said they weren't identical.

"You know what that means?"

Abby shook her head no. From the living room Connor chimed in, "That it can be a boy and a girl," in a falsetto voice he added, "Luke and Leia."

James ignored him. "It means that it was two separate eggs and sperm. It could very well be that we're both going to be fathers. Did she pin down a conception date?"

"Within three days. It was around May first and I don't remember anything about that whole week so I don't know. It was almost two months ago."

"Let me check my day planner." James slid the frozen garlic shrimp alfredo into the oven and went into his office. "You make a note on your calendar when I come over?" She nearly giggled.

"No, but it might jog your memory." He pulled up his day planner on the computer, it was linked to the one at work. James scrolled back until he was in the proper time frame. "You did come over. I remember I had that meeting the morning after." His attention had wandered most regrettably during that meeting. If the minister noticed he didn't say anything.

"So both of you could be fathers? This just gets more complicated." Abby sat down on the couch, in the exact same spot Connor had sat in a week before when all they had the first of many discussions.

"How are we going to do that? You can't move in with us. You can't have the baby here without me and it totally wouldn't be fair to do the 'Parent trap' solution and split them up."

James sat down beside her and hugged her close. "We'll think of something. We don't know yet. They could both be Connor's. Then he could have his Luke and Leia."

"Over my dead body," she objected, "seriously, if I die then don't let him name them that. Or Legolas and Aragorn or Arwen and Galadriel or I don't know, Jim and Jean-Luc. No sci-fi pair names." Abby laughed at how ridiculous all this was.

"Or they could both be yours." Connor joined them in the study. "What if they're both his? What then?"

"We'll worry about that if it happens." Abby said. "I don't want you to fight."

"We're not going to fight," James looked at Connor over the top of Abby's head with a warning glare, "Neither one of us wants to upset you." Connor looked insulted, then sheepish. "I'm going to be nice."

"When do you want to tell people at work?"

Abby snorted, "About the three of us in a love triangle? Never."

Connor rolled his eyes. "Not that, about you being pregnant!"

"You should wait, until the end of the third trimester, just in case something happens." James told them both seriously. "My sister had to go back and tell everyone that she wasn't having a baby after all and it was heartbreaking."

Abby shivered. "All right. End of the third trimester it is. Connor, can you keep it a secret?"

"Absolutely." He mimed zipping his lips and throwing away the key.

In the end it was four months before she told anyone, and it was mostly by accident. Jess saw her appointment confirmation email that the doctors office sent her. By the time the squealing died down every female in the ARC knew Abby and Connor were expecting twins.

It was a very good thing that Jess didn't notice she was forwarding it James. It was his turn to go with her to the appointment.

Dr. Sheldon didn't raise an eyebrow that Abby alternated men that she brought with her, and she told Abby she could have whoever she liked in the delivery room. "Believe me honey," Dr. Sheldon told her when Abby hesitantly brought it up, "We have all kinds of family situations come through here. You can do whatever you like."

At five months she was really starting to show. Baby A was a boy and he liked to be very in front. Baby B was a girl and she liked to spend her time kicking her mum's bladder. It seems that James was right to worry how she was going to carry twins. The baby bump wasn't too badly awkward yet, but there was four months to go.

At least Connor and James were getting along. They were all cruising along, careful not to rock the boat. Abby didn't force them together. James found out that the condo right next door to him was up for sale. He put an option contract on it, just in case.

A few days after the the six month appointment happened Abby noticed that James was a little quieter than normal. He was never giddy like Connor but he just wasn't responding normally to her texts. She went over to his house that evening by herself. Connor was out of town on one of Burton's secret projects. When James opened the door she could see that he had been crying.

"James? What's the matter?" Abby came in and reached up to touch his cheek. He tried not to think about how much he missed her visits. He reached up and gently took her hand, kissing her palm. "It's my mother, she's got cancer. They diagnosed her this morning. It's already advanced stage four. She's got no chance at all, only a few weeks left."

He tried to brush her off but she grabbed him and hugged him. "I'm so sorry! Are you going to visit her this weekend? Do you want me to come with you?"

"I'd love if you could come with me, but it would be really hard to explain all this to my family." He let his hand rest briefly on her stomach. "My not-girlfriends pregnant and we're not positive if I'm the father or not. I think the drama quotient will be high enough with all my brothers and sisters there."

"Oh. I'm so sorry." Abby repeated and hugged him. He dropped a kiss down on the top of her head before he could stop himself. Even before he did that, she could tell how lonely he was by how tightly he held her.

"I'd like to stay here tonight." She whispered in his ear, "you shouldn't be alone."

"Abby..." his voice trailed off, "you can't. What about Connor? We're finally getting along." He didn't relax his grip on her while he was trying to be chivalrous.

"Your mum's dying. I'll call him. He'll understand."

She pulled away from him and pulled out her phone. Connor answered on the third ring. "Hey babe!" He was up to his elbows reassembling a laptop with some super classified chips to run his new anomaly predicting program.

"Hey, listen, there's a problem."

"What?" He sat straight up as worry and concern flooded him , "Are you okay? I'll come back right now-"

"No, not with me, it's James. His mum was diagnosed with cancer, she's only got a short while to live. A few weeks maybe."

Connor winced. He had lost his dad when he was just a boy and it still hurt thinking about it. "That's horrible. Tell him I'm really sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, well, I don't want him to be alone tonight." Abby clutched the phone and said quickly, "I really don't."

"Abby...what are you saying?"

"I'd like to stay over here tonight." She said it all in a rush. "Connor, I don't want him to be alone. I'm worried about him."

She was asking a lot. She knew she was asking a really really lot. She could hear him thinking about what he would be agreeing to. She held her breath and hoped Connor was as capable of being generous with his love as she was. He didn't disappoint.

"Abby, I trust that you love me, and I accept that not very deep down, you're a very complicated woman." He wasn't there for her right now, for example. He was in Italy and had been for a week. "You can stay, and do, whatever you like. I trust you not to leave me."

She exhaled the breath she didn't realize she had been holding, "Thank you Connor. I love you."

"I love you too. Tell James I'm sorry about his mum."

Abby clicked her phone shut and turned around to see James standing right behind her. Certainly close enough to hear that conversation. He was very surprised. "I never thought he had that in him."

"I did. And I know you've got that in you, that's why you pushed us back together."

He jerked his shoulder and winced, "Never thought we'd be in this sort of relationship."

"It's not exactly a threesome, I don't see Connor ever being comfortable with that." She leaned up impishly and brushed lips against him, "intriguing as that thought is."

"You get that 'thought' right out of your head!" James slipped his hands around her and felt some of his sadness slip away at how ridiculous she was being. "But we both love you."

She pulled him down back onto the couch. "Talk to me." He hugged her and rested his chin on the top of her head for a second before he started to repeat what his brother told him. "It's pancreatic, and it's spread to most of her internal organs and her spinal cord. She's always been sick with something. She complained about getting old last time I saw her. That's why it got so advanced before they caught it."

"Are they positive there's nothing...?"

"Yeah." His voice choked up a bit. "Nothing. I'm taking a leave of absence from work tomorrow to drive up and be with her."

"Will your whole family be there?"

"Most likely. Abby, I'd like to take you but she...she'd never understand."

"I know. There's no easy way to explain us." They sat together in companionable silence for a while. He just enjoyed their closeness for a while. She was quiet, waiting for him to speak again. James finally slid them backwards so that they were laying on the couch, cuddling. It was a side of him that no one from work would believe existed.

Abby breathed softly in his ear. "What do you want to do?"

"Anything. Whatever you want."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's been a while. I've really missed you." He didn't hesitate, he kissed her firmly and held her as close as he could. She could feel how desperate he was for her. She giggled against his lips. They were both a bit old to be making out on the couch but they managed.

"I need you."Abby breathed against his mouth. James went willingly, kissing her hungrily and running his hands around her body. He took over almost immediately, it had been a few months but he still remembered exactly what she liked.

He took his time, exploring the changes in her body. He kissed his way around her stomach. "Are we going to...bother them?"

Abby laughed, "No. They're very well cushioned in there. Does it bother you?"

"No. It's just odd." He ran a hand down her belly and rested it lightly on her soft skin. He smirked up at her before continuing his reacquaintance with her body. Abby gasped her pleasure and ran her fingers through his hair and around his shoulders.

At some point they moved to the bed, shedding clothes as they went. Connor was good, but nobody managed an Australian kiss like he did. Something about pregnancy made her extra sensitive and he took full advantage of that amid her moans. It was a satisfying way to take his mind off things.

Later they were laying together, he was running his hand absently up and down her side before settling it across her stomach. "Are you alright?" She asked him quietly.

"I'm better than I had been in a long while. I missed you so much. Do you think we can go back to the way things were before?"

"Maybe. I hope so. I missed you too." She rolled over so that she was facing him, "kiss me again."

The next day when Connor returned from his week away Abby met him at the door with a passionate kiss. It laid to rest all the fears that had been slowly building in his mind ever since he hung up the phone the night before.

"This is really complicated." He said, "What would you classify this as? I know it's not normal. Are we freaks?" Normal men didn't just accept it when their girlfriend had a fling with an old...benefit.

"No! We're not freaks. I might be, you're not. I don't know. I don't care. You both make me happy."

At the seven month mark the doctor told Abby to stop working. She enjoyed being able to lounge about the house all day, but she got pretty bored. Burton's super secret projects seemed to be heating up and Connor was gone a lot doing things he couldn't talk about.

Abby figured they had a real breakthrough when she overheard Connor calling James and asking him to keep an eye on her while he was out of town.

At the eight month mark she was more than ready to deliver. It was a struggle to walk around, her feet were swollen to a crazy degree and the babies seemed to alternate bouncing on her bladder and kicking her kidneys.

At eight months, one week and two days, she got her wish. A few hours later she was wishing to go back to the irritating yet relatively painless pregnancy. Connor was by her side holding her hand as she paced up and down the delivery floor. Both babies were head down so they were going to try for a normal delivery first.

They had already agreed that they wouldn't call anyone if they could help it. It would be damned hard to explain to Jess or Becker why James Lester was in the delivery room with her. James had finally accepted that he couldn't be there unless he could come up with a good alibi or the delivery happened after working hours.

Abby had called Connor at ten o clock to come drive her to the hospital. Then she called James to let him know what was going on. That day he thankfully only had paperwork to catch up on. If it had been more complicated he might have given something away.

By the time he got to the hospital at six he was past caring who found out or thought that they were sex freaks. He wanted to be there. It might not even be his babies, but he still wasn't going to let the woman he loved go through that with only goofy Connor Temple by her side.

At a bit after midnight, he got his wish. Abby was sitting up, clutching his hand. Connor was in an identical pose on the other side of her.

"And one more push!" The doctor commanded. Abby bore down and pushed. All three of them saw the first head slip out. It had dark hair. "It's the girl!" The doctor cleaned her mouth out and held her up so they could see her cry. She laid the baby on Abby's chest and turned back to business, the boy was already crowning.

James reached out with a cautious finger and touched her head, Connor did the same with her hand. They both looked at each other over the baby and quickly glanced away, the emotion in their eyes being too much.

"She's beautiful Abby," Connor said, kissing her on the mouth, "Just beautiful."

"Who's cutting the first cord?" The doctor asked, holding up a pair of scissors. "You do it Connor." James said quickly. He didn't think he could keep his hand from shaking. "I'll do the next one."

"Another push!" Somehow, the doctor managed to coordinate cutting the cord and delivering the second baby. Abby cried out again when the boy was born. Again, they watched the doctor clean his mouth out and lay him on her stomach next to his sister.

The nurses were leaning over them swiping the babies off without taking them away. Abby let go of their hands and carefully touched them, her own babies for the first time.

"It's your turn!" The doctor said cheerfully, holding out another pair of scissors to James. Still with his hands shaking, he cut between the two clamps where the doctor indicated.

After that things seemed to go in a whirlwind, the nurses whisked the babies off to the other side of the room to be weighed and really cleaned up. The doctor was doing something complicated, mashing on Abby's abdomen and the two men felt as if they were both going to faint, not that they'd ever say that to each other.

"Have you picked out names yet?" One of the nurses asked them as she returned one of the twins. "Luke and Leia," Connor said hopefully.

"No." Again, Abby and James shot him down. "We don't have to name right now do we?"

"No, but you have to file the birth certificate within two weeks or there's horrible paperwork." The nurse explained as she settled the baby into Abby's arms. "Support her head."

She cuddled her baby, cooing at her. She wasn't aware she was nearly crying until she looked up and realized that Connor and James were in the same state. Another nurse returned her son, and showed her how to hold two newborns at the same time. She only did that for a moment before passing her daughter off to Connor and cuddling with her son. James looked terribly left out so she handed the baby over.

"Wow." Abby said, overwhelmed with the occasion. Both men were reduced to quivering piles of goo as they cuddled the babies. They both knew that one of then was going to end up heartbroken.

If you like it or didn't like it please review. Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Eventually, the doctor and nurses left them alone to enjoy their babies. If the anyone in the delivery room thought it was the least bit odd there was two fathers they kept their opinions to themselves. Connor got the real story when he went to get some tea.

"They think you're a surrogate! They think we're the parents and you're our surrogate mum!" He blurted out quietly when he returned. "Icky." He tried to ignore the brief stab of jealousy that rose up in him when he saw that James was laying on the bed next to Abby, helping her hold the twins while they slept.

"That makes sense. It explains why no one asked any personal questions." He commented. "The nurse is coming in to do the DNA test in a bit."

Right on que, a new nurse walked in with some cotton swabs in her hand.

"Good morning." She said cheerfully, "I understand we're doing a paternity test today?"

"Yes." Connor answered her from his chair next to the bed. Her professionalism ruled when she simply swabbed inside the mouth of the babies, and Connor and James.

"How long will this take?" Abby asked.

"Anywhere else this would be a send out test and it could take up to a week, but you have good luck and perfect timing. We perform it in house every Monday and Thursday and this is your lucky day. First shift will run it when they get here at six. You could have the results by four."

The moment of truth was rapidly approaching. "Abby, we've got to start calling people as soon as it gets a little later." Connor said, "They'll think it's odd if we don't."

"And I can't be here when you do." James said. He kissed Abby on the cheek and touched the babies one last time before sliding off the bed. "I've got to go in and look as if I didn't stay up all night."

"So I got tomorrow off right?" Connor said cheekily as he smoothly took over the spot James vacated. "It's only fair!"

"I don't see how it's fair, but knowing how badly I'd like to stay I won't deprive you of it. I'll tell Burton I've given you the rest of the week off. He can whinge at me about it."

"Thanks mate." Connor called after him as he left.

Jess squealed into the phone when Abby called her and in the background she heard a man's voice whispering something. "Can I come see them now?" Jess pleaded with her, "There's time before work, do you feel up to visitors?"

"Sure." Abby said, and then with a wicked grin she added, "and bring Becker. I know he's awake." From her friends horrified gasp she knew that she had hit the nail right on the head.

"How long have you two been sneaking around?" Abby demanded. "Don't lie, I'm tripping on pain meds and could say just about anything."

"Um...three months...we were keeping it quiet so we didn't run afoul of Lester's sexual harassment and workplace dating policy."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that." Abby had read that memo and laughed herself silly. "Well, I don't think he's ever actually enforced it unless you get caught shagging in a storage closet like Munson and Taft." That was legendary office gossip.

"We don't want to risk it." Jess replied, "and besides, it's nice not having people staring and speculating at us all day. If everyone knew it'd be a bit like being in a circus."

"I totally know how you feel." Abby wholeheartedly agreed.

As expected, Burton threw a fit when Lester told him that he'd given Connor the rest of the week off to spend with his new family. Lester let him rant for a while before finally pointing out that at the end of the day, Connor worked for him and was only on loan to Burton's company. Annoying Burton would normally be the highlight of his day, but this was a special day.

It was hard to slide into the routine. Jess had taken some pictures on her phone that he caught her showing off around the detector when she was supposed to be working. The small, entirely female crowd was a big tip off that no work related conversation was going on. It was always a baby or an engagement ring that drew them like magpies.

He busted up the party with a few well placed comments about personal time and thought about dressing down Jess for starting it but she beat him to it. That was her latest strategy for staying out of trouble. Taking the words out of his mouth.

"I know I shouldn't have but look," She held up a photo showing the twins laying side by side facing each other, "aren't they so adorable? I couldn't resist showing Matilda, and then Julie came over and Mandy and it just got out of hand."

He pursed his lips and took the phone away from her to examine the picture closer, well aware that he was pretending never to have seen them before. "I will admit they are cute," he said grudgingly, "and I truly hope they take after their mother and not their father. Now if it's out of your system now?"

"Right, back to work." Jess stuck her phone back in her purse and was thankful he didn't come over when she had the picture of Becker holding the little girl out.

Back at the hospital Abby was taking her first shower as a mum while Connor watched them. She came out of the bathroom dressed in a comfortable button up nightie that was more like a dress than a nightie.

Connor was laying on the hospital bed with an armful of twins looking terrified of moving. That was exactly how she had left him fifteen minutes before.

His eyes latched on to her, "Abby, I've got a cramp, do you mind?"

"You've got a cramp? What do you think I went through last night?" She teased him as she lifted the second baby up so he could move. It was the boy. Abby carefully slid into bed beside him. "I don't ever want to hear you complaining about cramping."

"I'm sorry, you're amazing." He kissed her forehead, "I can't stop looking at them. They're cute when they're asleep." He caught her look, "And when they're not asleep. They're just all around cute, cuter than a baby cat- I'll just stop talking now. I'm over excited."

Abby settled herself in under the blankets and cuddled her son close. "Seriously, what do you want to name them?" Connor asked her once he got full control of his mouth again. "I've moved beyond my desire to name them after a Jedi Master and the head of the New Republic. Not bad names to live up to all the same."

"I want to wait, until we get the results of the test before I say anything. I'd feel weird discussing names when I'm not even sure..."

"I know what you mean Abby. I want them to be mine so bad, and then I feel bad because I know James feels exactly the same way, and then I feel weird I can emphasize with him. It's very confusing."

Overcome with emotion, Abby kissed him, then turned back to study the babies. They were were both dark haired, with little white speckles on their skin. The doctor assured her that that would wear off in a day or so. When they opened their eyes they couldn't tell the color, his were dark, probably brown and hers were much lighter, almost a slate gray color that could change to anything as she grew.

Abby started counting the little fingers and little toes again, marveling at how tiny their fingernails were. Connor watched her be maternal and swore that he'd do whatever he had to to make her happy.

As the afternoon wore on they kept glancing at the clock in the corner. Abby had spoken to the doctor and when the results of the paternity test arrive they wouldn't be told until no one was there except for the three of them.

When six rolled around Jess, and some other ladies from work came in. Connor went out to get some dinner and let the ladies make cooing noises without a male audience although Abby could have told them that he had spent the entire day making those same noises at the babies.

He ran into Jack in the corridor by the elevator on his way back. "Hey!" Jack greeted him with a handshake. "I understand congratulations are in order?"

"Thanks mate, wanna see them?" Connor spun around and led the way into the room. He showed Jack into the room and stood by proudly as Abby showed off his new niece and nephew. Discretely, Connor pulled out his phone and texted James, 'lots of people here, don't come now. Visiting hours end at nine so come after that. Abby can give permission for you.'

A minute later he got a reply, 'test?'

'Don't know. Tonight. Awkward questions if we looked at the results now.'

They didn't know it but they both mentally thought the next three hours are going to be miserable.

They were right. James ended up pacing around his condo on pins and needles. Connor was just as edgy but people chalked that up to being a new dad. Only Abby knew the real reason. At eight thirty the floor nurse stuck her head in and told the crowd of well wishers to wrap it up, they had to leave at nine. Most people took the hint. Jess stayed the longest, but she was getting her baby fix on. Becker wasn't going to be happy about this when he saw her later. She wanted one now...

Finally Jess left. "I wonder if I should warn Becker that she wants one now?" Connor mused aloud. "She held sweetie more than I did." He had nicknamed the girl Sweetie and the boy Junior.

"I think he can figure it out for himself." Abby replied dryly. "Is the floor clear yet?"

Connor did a quick recon mission around the recovery floor to make sure all of their visitor had left before he returned and called James.

James answered on the first ring. Connor asked, "How far away are you?"

"In the parking lot." Where he had been hiding for the last hour. "Have they all left yet?"

"Give it a few minutes just to make sure no one is hanging about in the gift shop before you come up. I'll meet you at the elevator." Connor promised him.

Abby flipped the sealed envelope that held the results over and over in her hand. The doctor had slipped it to her right after everyone left when she did her final exam for the evening. Junior was sleeping in his incubator and Abby was nursing Sweetie when Connor returned with James.

Connor looked away while they embraced. He tried not to think about how weird this was, but it was the way it was. Abby pushed herself up further in the bed. "Are you ready for this?"

"No. But go on." James said, looking more nervous than Connor or Abby had ever seen him. She ripped the envelope open and pulled out the single sheet of paper. Her eyes scanned down it rapidly and and Connor pleaded, "Abby don't keep us waiting here, I might pass out."

She took a deep breath before she answered them, "It's the most complicated answer."

Connor felt his heart stop. They weren't his. They were James's. Those adorable, wonderful babies he had spent the whole day falling in love with weren't his.

Dimly, he heard Abby as kept she talking, "Connor, you have a son...James, you have a daughter. What are we going to do?"

"Junior's really mine?" Connor swayed with shock, "seriously?"

Abby rolled her eyes at him. "Yes. Really." He walked over to the infant incubator and touched his son on his hand. On reflex the baby grabbed his finger. "I have a son." He looked like he was going to start crying with happiness. "This is the best thing ever." James looked away from Connor's moment to zero in on the little pink blanket in her arms.

"Here," Abby patted the bed beside her, "come hold you daughter." Still stunned, James did as she asked. She passed the little girl over. She fussed a little when James took her but quieted down as he rocked her a bit. "She's beautiful Abby."

"I know. She's my daughter isn't she?" Quite rightly Abby was proud of her. "Now we can talk about names."

Two days later they took Nick Thomas and Amelia Grace Maitlan home from the hospital. The birth certificates were filled out correctly, but they all decided that even though people were going to figure it out when the twins started to talk, putting the moment of truth off a few years was a good thing. Abby wasn't married to either of her men anyway.

That night they waited until the babies fell asleep before making plans.

"How are we going to do this?" Abby asked them as they all sat on the couch together. "I know you want to be around her every second." She turned to James. He had spent the whole evening carrying Amelia around, except when Abby was feeding her. Abby didn't even have to change her diapers when James was around, an example Connor should follow if he had any sense.

He had already thought of that, "A few months ago the condo next to mine came up for sale. I optioned it, the option doesn't run out for another three weeks."

"You what?" Connor wasn't big on real estate terms.

"Optioned. It mean they can only sell it to me if I decide I want it and I have a few weeks yet to decide if I do."

Abby clicked to the possibilities sooner than Connor. "So if they were yours...we could move next door to you and no one would need to know how freaky I am."

"You're not a freak." Connor said sharply, "it's just too complicated for public consumption. Next door huh? We could put in an interior door, out of sight. We wouldn't all be living together...exactly."

"No. We wouldn't. Frankly until a few days ago I was positive I couldn't live with anyone long term. But the thought of watching Amelia grow up from a distance disturbs me."

"So what? She'd have a room in your place?"

"Not right away!" James protested, "She's a baby. When she's much older, I'd like her to live with me, but you'd only be next door. Technically, in the same condo if we join them with a door. It'd be like living on opposite sides of a house. People are going to work it out anyway once they start to talk and one twin calls me daddy."

"Yeah. Maybe." Connor was doubtful. He liked their flat.

Abby could see his mind trying to find a way to veto the idea. "Connor, they're twins. We can't raise them separately because we're all selfish people. It's not fair to them. What if it was reversed. What if I was openly dating James and you were the secret? What would you want us to do?"

"Ah hell Abby, there you go playing to my better nature." He rubbed his face and then grinned. "I suppose we might do a walk through, check out the neighborhood. Not sure about the neighbors though, I hear he's a bit dodgy."

James tried and failed not to smile at him. "It's a mirror image of my place. We can put a door in the back of the hall closet and then no one would see it as long as we kept the closet door shut on both sides."

"Thought about this much have you?" Connor ribbed him.

"A bit." James retorted, "Amelia's the only child I'm ever going to have. I'd be a horrible father if I let her grow up without me." He winced, "I'd be my own dad."

"My dad died when I was little." Connor volunteer to try and break the silence, "I was only eight. My mum tried to be mum and dad to me but...a kid needs a dad."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

While she encouraged her males bonding, this was getting to be a bit too morose for her. Abby coughed to get their attention. "I'm glad we're all agreed. How much will it cost?"

Connor winced when James told them. "I can cosign the note, if you can qualify. I expect you can. I gave you two an excellent credit rating when you came back." He grinned. Connor's was slightly worse than Abby's, but as he told him when he complained about it years ago, identical scores would have been suspicious.

"Let's do this then."

No one from work had ever been to Lester's house and he made sure to stay out of sight when Jess and Becker were helping them move. Actually, Jess was helping Abby with the twins and Becker was just tagging along to try and keep the baby longing in her to a minimum. He had a theory after she'd changed fifty or sixty nappies she wouldn't be so baby crazy. So far it wasn't working.

They had hired movers to do the actual heavy lifting. Connor and Becker were assembling their new entertainment center while Jess and Abby were unpacking the nursery stuff. The babies were safely laying on the floor on a thick mat with pillows all around them to keep them from escaping, even though they couldn't roll over. This would not be a good time for them to figure it out.

"This is such a posh building," Jess raved when she saw the place, "I love this view!"

"Yeah, we like it. It's certainly big enough for two kids. Not too far from work, and the schools here are excellent."

"I always thought you would pick something with a little garden myself." Jess said, "I didn't peg you two for a condo in a highrise."

"There's a balcony, we're going to convert it into a nice little garden area with some vines and things." Abby said. She couldn't go into the real reason for the move for a few years yet. Or hopefully ever, if she was lucky.

A week later they were safely moved in and the guys started construction work on the door. They were doing it themselves because the building had a rule against connecting units. Connor had taken woodshop in school and James had done a few minor repairs here and there over the course of his life.

They proved they were not carpenters but they got a door hung and it didn't look too bad. Privately Abby thought it was for the best that it would be concealed in a closet. Connor was proud of it. James agreed with Abby.

"Are you planning on coming back to work?" James asked her while they cleaned up the mess from the door. "I've never asked you before."

"I was planning on it right away, but now that they're here...I'd like to work part time for a while, working my way back up to full time, once they're a bit older. Can you live without me there until they're three months old?"

"I'll keep you job open as long as you want it." James promised her, "Matt's keeping the creatures looked after but I know he doesn't enjoy it the way you do."

"Now we have to make a vow to each other not to use the door unless we've confirmed no one unexpected is next door." Connor piped up. "Jess and Becker would have kittens if you suddenly appeared in the hallway."

A few days later Abby got the call that Connor was having to unexpectedly jet off to France for some reason. He raced home to pack a bag and kiss the her goodbye. "A week, maybe two. It's a big breakthrough if it works." He was talking a million miles an hour. "Oh I'm going to miss you!" He hugged her tight, "I'll be back so don't get too cozy next door heh?"

Connor kissed her again, and planted a kiss on Nick's forehead, "Be good for mummy. Love you."

"Love you too." Connor hadn't been home ten minutes before he was rushing off to the airport in a cab.

Five minutes after that she was just settling in to catch up on her telly watching when her phone chirped. It was James texting.

'can I come over?'

'yes.'

He must have texted her from in the closet. Five seconds later he was walking up the hallway to her. "I got the most amazing phone call from Connor. He made me swear to look after you and the babies, but not to get too comfortable in his spot."

James sat down next to her. "I very rationally explained it was my spot first and he said that I was just keeping it warm for him. God I hope our phones aren't tapped."

She laughed, "Connor checks them regularly. Hold him." Abby passed over Nick. "I've got to go to the loo. Amelia's asleep in her basket."

The bemused man stretched out on the couch and looked down at the baby that was intently checking him out. "You're a lot quieter than your dad. Thank heaven for that."

The next nine days were the closest thing to domestic bliss he had ever experienced. Abby moved the twins and their baskets over to his house at night and curled up beside him, she said it was so he could experience the joy of getting up forty times a night like she did. He didn't really mind as much as he thought he would.

Having Amelia in the evenings delighted him. He could already tell a bit about her personality. She liked to be held and talked to. Like any female, she didn't like to be ignored. She was serious baby, and sometimes frowned in her sleep. There was a definite family resemblance then. Jess even commented on it once without thinking, and fortunately without looking at Abby or the jig would have been up.

"Look at her little scowl, she looks like Lester!" Then she seemed to realize what she said, "Don't tell Connor I said that." Jess added hastily.

"Don't worry," Abby covered, "I won't."

Abby's sweetest memories after coming home from the hospital were of laying in bed late at night or early in the morning nursing the twins, with Connor's arms wrapped around her. She wanted to give James that memory also.

The first night Connor was gone she had her opportunity. Nick was sleeping soundly and Amelia started to fuss. Abby reached over and picked her up. James woke up when she started shifting around.

"Here, sit up." She coaxed him around so she could lean against him. He did as she asked and tickled Amelia's foot after she latched on. "Don't do that, it makes her bite!" Abby shifted his hand so he was helping to hold her up.

"I recall you like a little biting." He teased, fully at ease with her.

"From you, not from her! It's just odd when she does it."

He kissed her cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

This arrangement went on successfully for almost two years before the someone else found out.

It was Jess. Becker had finally popped the question and she was over at Abby's with an enormous stack of wedding magazines and planners. Connor had fled the invasion of pink and white, and the curious speculation of if Becker could get his act together why couldn't he?

The twins had building blocks and plastic toys scattered all over the living room. "They're just so cute!" Jess sighed, looking up from her comparison of different places around London to hold the ceremony. Becker had put his foot down, they had to be married at least a year before they started trying for one of their own.

Abby snorted, "Right now. When they're doing something and not trying to wreck the whole house." They also tended to fight like cats, that went back to when they could barely roll over. They'd inch closer to each other then start wailing away on each other. Whoever said twins were always best friends had clearly never met Amelia and Nick.

Just this once, the one time it really mattered, James forgot to text Abby if he could come over. It was late, they normally didn't have anyone over anyway during the week, it had been a very long dinner meeting with the minister and he just plain forgot. When the hallway door opened up Amelia looked up and squealed.

"Daddy daddy daddy!" She chanted as she bolted down the hallway. Abby realized what was happening just as James came into view with Amelia perched on his hip. She was angelically resting her head on his shoulder.

He saw Jess sitting beside her on the couch, wedding memorabilia piled everywhere. "Oh hell."

"It wasn't going to stay a secret forever." Abby said grimly and hoped Jess was friend enough to let her explain. Her head was currently whipping around from the sudden appearance of Lester, Amelia calling him daddy and Abby referring to a secret. It didn't take a genius to figure this out.

"Were you hiding back there this whole time?" She was aghast.

"He wasn't hiding, he was over at his house. He lives next door." Abby explained and waited for the other shoe to drop. Jess was thoroughly confused.

"Abby...I know it's not my business...but what's going on here?"

"Amelia's his daughter." Her best friend replied, with a bit of a blush.

"They're yours?" She started at James, "But Connor?"

"She's his." Abby corrected, "Connor knows. It's complicated."

"I can't believe this."

"Believe it." James shrugged and turned to Amelia, "Sweetie, make your mad face." The little girl loved an audience, she screwed her face up in her best scowl before grinning at them all. The family resemblance showed plainly through but it was really odd to see that expression on a two year old.

"I'd really appreciate it if you didn't bring this up at work. My life is difficult enough." James requested, acting entirely like her boss even though he was wearing jeans and t-shirt, standing barefoot in Abby's living room.

Jess looked over at Nick who was ignoring all this. "What about Nick?"

"Nick's Connor's. They're not identical." Abby shrugged, "I had a fling."

"Can I talk to you privately for a minute?" Jess tried to hold on to her manners. James shrugged again, "I'm going back home. I'm serious about not discussing this at work Mrs. Parker." He turned around and walked back down the hall with Amelia. "She didn't eat much dinner." Abby called after him, "Get her to eat something before bed."

Little dark haired Nick barely looking up from his toy trucks and spaceships as his sister was whisked away convinced Jess that this was a regular occurrence. Jess gulped and waited until he vanished back down the hall before speaking again.

"Abby? You had a fling with Lester?" She just couldn't believe it. Abby knew this would be everyone's reaction and she made a spur of the moment decision to come clean about everything. "Technically, I had a fling with Connor in the cretaceous. Look, do you want a drink?"

"Yeah. I think I'm gonna need one."

Abby got up and poured them both a glass of port. "James and I...we've had a thing going for a long time."

"How serious a thing?" Jess was fascinated in a morbid sort of way.

"Not that serious. Friends with benefits. He didn't want to go to the trouble of dating and I didn't want the hassle of a boyfriend chasing me around. I already got all the annoying boyfriend behavior out of Connor without any of the perks anyway."

"But he's your boss!"

"So? We kept it professional at work. Nobody's ever suspected."

"What about you and Connor?"

"There wasn't an 'us' until we got trapped. For the obvious reason, I never told him about James. Remember what an ass he was when we came back and he was desperate for a pat on the head from Burton?"

"Yeah? I remember he took off for weeks and didn't even tell you."

"That broke my heart. He was ignoring me...and James was still there, still not demanding anything from me, just being there for me. I almost broke up with Connor then."

Abby took a drink, "I felt less alone with the man I wasn't dating then the man I was. It was horrible. I was miserable."

"What happened?" This was like a movie, Jess was half expecting to hear the sad soundtrack turn up in the background.

"I got pregnant. I wasn't sure who the father was. James was a little vexed at me that I never told Connor about him and he insisted that I do so. That was a wild night." Abby closed her eyes remembering.

"I can imagine." Jess sipped on her own drink. "You had to tell him you were having an affair."

Abby pursed her lips and tried to explain. "It never felt like an affair to me. Like, I loved them both in different ways maybe. I don't know. I'm screwed up. I've accepted that."

Jess reached out and patted her arm, "You're not that screwed up. You've got two lovely children."

"Yeah, something good came out of it. Anyway I didn't want to do a paternity test until after the baby was born. It's a bit risky to do it before. And we found out it was twins, and there was a chance that they could both be the father. One for each of them."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Wow. We had to find a way to get along. It took awhile, it certainly didn't happen overnight. Connor realized what an ass he was being and forgave me for what I did. James never expected anything from me one way or the other."

"So now you live in joining flats and don't tell anyone?"

"Yeah. Well, we always knew that as soon as they started talking people were going to know. I'm only telling you the whole story because you're my best friend. Everyone else is just going to think I'm a slut."

"You're not a slut." Jess said automatically invoking the girlfriend code to defend each other. "Just...complicated. So that's why you never married Connor?"

"That and he's never asked me. That was part of the problem before, he just expected me to be there and never actually asked me. James has been working on him, he's a lot better about things now. Having competition right next door has been good for him."

Jess looked down at her wineglass. She had emptied it without realizing. That gave her extra courage. "So...are you having any more kids?"

"I don't know. Connor would like a few more. James is quite happy with the one. I don't know. Why?"

"I was just curious..."

Abby looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Are you trying not to ask if we all have wild sex together?"

"Abby!" Jess's blush betrayed her.

"No. We don't. Three's a crowd..." she sighed, "and they're accepting of me being in love with two men...but they most definitely are not."

"So...you and Connor...and you and James..."

"It's not like we have roster drawn up!" Abby protested. "I sleep over here most nights unless Connor is gone, then I go over there. Sometimes I stay here alone. It just depends what I feel like. James likes to be alone a lot also, that's probably why this arrangement works."

She filled up their glasses again. "It's odd, but I've been happier since we moved here than I think I've ever been in my life. When Burton has Connor zipping all over the world for weeks at a time he doesn't have to worry about me because he knows the farthest I'll go is right next door and James did more to get our relationship back right than I did."

"That's so odd. That guys can be that way."

"You've heard the old joke if you give a guy a million dollars and ask him what he's going to do with it?"

"No."

Abby laughed, "Two chicks at once." Jess joined her in laughing. "I don't know why I just thought of that. I hope I can keep the gossip at work down."

"There won't be any. I've got your back...only...can I tell Becker?"

"Yes. You can tell Becker, but not all the finer details, that's protected under girl talk. Just tell him I had a fling and we didn't want to split the twins up. If he wants details he can ask Connor."

"I don't imagine he's going to want details." Jess said. Connor picked that moment to return. "Is is safe? Am I going to be attacked with bows and lace?" He called theatrically from the living room. "Girls?"

"We're in here!" Abby called out and Connor appeared in the doorway a moment later, "she knows, James came to get Amelia without calling."

To both their surprise, he started laughing. "He owns me a hundred pounds! Hahahahaha!" He bent over clutching his gut as he laughed.

"What?"

"He bet me years ago that I'd give it away!" Still laughing, Connor went back to the living room. A moment later they both heard the hall closet door open.

"So that's it? You just treat it like one big house?"

"Not really, Connor rarely goes over there without a reason. For him a hundred pounds and gloating is a good reason." Abby rolled her eyes, "We're trying not to confuse them so Nick doesn't go over there very often either. He calls James Uncle James but when they first started talking they called everyone daddy and mummy. Amelia calls Connor Uncle Conn but she pronounces it UnCon."

"Where does she sleep?"

"Sometimes here, sometimes there. He bought her a frilly pink princess bed that she adores and now she wants to sleep over there every night but I won't let her." Abby grinned, "She's my daughter too."

"Where's she sleeping tonight?"

"Over there. We alternate. If she gets up in the middle of the night sometimes she comes back here, or goes over there. We've really got to put a lock on that door."

They stayed up late talking about Abby's odd family situation, and Jess's upcoming wedding. Jess always thought her life was complicated but that was nothing compared to this. At least she was positive she was only in love with one man.

After a while they heard Connor getting Nick ready for bed. It sounded like an epic naval battle was taking place in the tub for a while. Abby ignored it and Jess followed her lead. At nine Nick ran into the kitchen, dressed only in his pull-ups and a spider-man t-shirt. Connor was two steps behind him.

"Tell mama night night." Connor directed him.

"No!" Nick wailed and clung to Abby's leg. "No!" She picked him up. "You have to go to bed Nick, it's bedtime."

"NO!"

"If you don't stop shouting I'm not reading you a story." Abby threatened him. Nick truly thought about it for a minute. "NO!"

"Still want one?" Abby asked Jess skeptically, "Let me go put him down." Abby took the wailing boy to his room and set him down in his bed. Now he started chanting, "Story, story story story..."

"No, I told you to stop shouting and you didn't. I'll give you a kiss." Abby leaned down and kissed him on his forehead. "Hold Mr. Sid." She pressed a stuffed dinosaur toy into his hands. "I love you, goodnight." Abby shut the door on his screaming protests.

"Is it like that every night?"

"Just recently. It's not normally that bad." Abby confessed. "Terrible twos and all that."

"Maybe you should have read him that story." Jess hesitantly suggested, "would it have helped?"

"No. And you saw him think about it. He decided to keep screaming. Tomorrow he'll be a lot better about it." The hall door opening cut them off. James came through with Amelia still perched on his arm, but she had also been bathed and dressed in Barbie pajamas.

"She wanted to tell you good night." James said to Abby and Connor.

"Come here baby." Abby took her and hugged her. "Good night Amelia." Like she had done with her son, Abby kissed her on the forehead before handing her back. "Good night mama. Good night Uncon. Good night lady."

"She likes to say good night." James explained to Jess, "I see you got Nick corralled?" The crash of a toy banging off the wall punctuated the remark. Connor grinned, "More or less. Don't worry, wait until she's a teenager, then we'll see who's laughing." James sniffed his nose at Connor's remark and went back over to his house. He had always thought that his twin was the good twin.

"I'd better go too, I'll call Becker to pick me up. I shouldn't be driving." Jess said as she pulled out her phone to make the call. Connor and Abby went back into the kitchen to give her some privacy.

"So we're out?"

"Yeah. She won't gossip about us."

"Well then. Knew it was going to happen some day." Connor leaned in and kissed her just as Jess walked in the doorway. She squeaked in surprise. "Um, he's on his way. He's taking a cab so we can bring my car back."

"What do you think about all this?" Connor asked her casually as he started to rummage through the fridge. "I know you think something."

Jess sat down at the table, "Well...I think the kids seem happy, and you lot all seem happy...so I'm happy for you. That said, I don't think too many people should know all the details."

"We agree completely!" Connor said with a grin. Abby went into the other room to start stacking up Jess's collection of wedding catalogues. "Besides, after I got my head around it I realize that this could be really good."

"How so?"

Connor got serious, "What we do at the ARC is dangerous. If something happens to me then I don't have to worry about Abby, he'll look after her. And vice versa, of course."

"That's a very practical way to look at things."

He snorted and opened a bag of potato chips. "I've had to learn to be practical. Chip?" The oddness of the evening overwhelmed her and she giggled.

Thanks for reading


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Two years later:

To comply with heath and safety requirements they installed a daycare center in the ARC. That was the beginning of the end. It became sort of an open secret at work that Abby's daughter was Lester's. All three of the adults stomped all over any gossip. Two of the three adults. No one had the bad sense to approach Lester about it.

There was a buzz for a few days but then it died down. It wasn't anybody's business. The majority of people at work assumed that they had had a fling and Connor was a big enough person to forgive her for it. When no one would talk about it the sheer juiciness of the gossip wore off. Jess kept her ear to the ground and she dressed down a few people for gossiping. Becker flat out ordered his men to lay off the Abby/Connor/Lester thing.

It helped that Connor and Abby were both well liked and popular and hadn't made any enemies at the office.

The minister called Lester into his office to question him about it. He got the same answer as everyone else. It wasn't his business and it didn't affect the office and he could just butt out. In much more polite language.

Late one evening about two weeks later James had retrieved Amelia from the day care when he was called to the operations floor. Abby had already taken Nick home, he had been planning to take Amelia out for ice cream after work. She had a very stressful day at daycare that afternoon. That plan was all shot now, unless he could leave quickly.

Connor, Jess, Becker, and dozen security people and techs were watching the screen. It kept saying there was an anomaly, then there wasn't. "What's going on here?" He demanded, ignoring their glances at his daughter standing right next to him with her hand in his. She looked more and more like Abby every day. Most of these people hadn't seen her until the daycare opened and then it was impossible to hide. He certainly wasn't going to ask a four year old to pretend that she wasn't his daughter.

"I'm not sure, it shouldn't be faulting like this." Connor tried to explain from under the desk, "Jess, try the reboot again."

"So it's broken then?" James was not impressed.

"Not broken exactly, there's no anomalies." The screen was screaming that they were up to their eyeballs in anomalies. James sighed irritably, "Connor, if there isn't one, but it says that there is, then its broken."

"It's not broken." Connor defended his system, "Something else is going on."

Even if James was ignoring the stares, Amelia wasn't. She tugged at his hand, "Daddy, pick me up." Absently, he did and set her up on the desk he was standing next to. Being eye level with everyone else gave her a little confidence. She didn't like being nervous.

Amelia watched her daddy and Uncle Connor argue back and forth before she decided that she really didn't want to miss out on ice cream because of Uncle Connor being silly.

"Fix it Uncle Connor." Amelia demanded like a queen. "So I can go have ice cream with my daddy."

Connor slid out from under the desk enough to look up at her. "Ice cream? What about your poor brother? Does he get any ice cream?"

She shrugged. She didn't really care if Nick got any ice cream. He had pulled the head off her favorite barbie today and she had gotten in trouble for hitting him for it. Brothers were a terrible nuisance.

"I see how it is." Connor slid back under the desk and kept shifting wire around. "Just fix it." James ordered them all, perfectly aware of the little slice of their life they had provided to all the people standing around.

"Yeah!" Amelia felt vindicated that daddy agreed with her. "Fix it you lazy layabouts!" It was the worst thing she could think of to call them. She even screwed up her face into her best mad face. James looked over at her, stunned that she was bitching at his people at the tender age of four. "Outstanding." He picked her up and carried her out of the room.

He wasn't quite all the way out when he heard one of Becker's men say, "Holy crap, it's mini-Lester. Talk about the apple not falling far from the tree."

Distantly he heard Connor reply just as the door swung shut. "I cannot wait until she starts dating. That's going to be a laugh!"

The end.


End file.
